Sticking to My Day Job

When it comes to sewing, I was definitely not cut out (pun intended) to be a seamstress, so I will definitely be sticking to my day job. That is, once I have some jobs rolling in.

Yesterday I made a tiny curtain (pic on right) for my kitchen, and today I worked on cutting the fabric for the panels in my living room (pic on left). No worries...I will have lots of aqua and lime throughout the house, but those fabrics won't be beside each other.

I also got the first coat of white paint on my chandelier. I picked it up at an antique store in Darien, GA, and I'm quite sure they would throw a fit if they knew I was painting it. It was originally brown/bronze with amber prisms/etc. I'm planning to make a cord cover from the same fabric that is behind it and load it down with aqua and lime prisms. These are the prisms that I ordered today. I have another idea of something to add, but I'm going to have to consult my chandelier making friend Beth first.  :)

Now let's just hope the photo jobs start coming so I can put the sewing machine away!  :)

One of my first finds...

Fort Walton Beach is THE place to come if you like junkin'! There must be at least three or four antique store/thrift store type places on every corner. I will probably never see my mama when she comes up for a visit.  :)

I have already lucked up and found some things in a couple of these stores. I found a set of dining room chairs and a fireplace mantle.

Brian and Randy put the rustic mantle up for me Saturday. I had to give them some "jobs" since the movers never showed up with our household goods.

I'm undecided on whether I want to leave it as is or if I want to try out some chalk painting on it. I guess I will have to wait until my furniture arrives. I'm hoping the movers will show up this Friday. Now if only we can keep Tropical Storm Chantal in line and keep her from heading west.

Lovin' Our New Home

Even though things have been crazy around here, we are loving our new home.  A few days ago we were pretty exhausted after a long, hot day of working and some neighbors (Dan, Debra, & granddaughter Sophia) stopped by bearing a gift. Now I don't know about you, but when you're tired and stressed - I can't think of anything that would be better than a plate of yummy, chocolate chip cookies.

The cookies were delivered on a foil-wrapped frisbee and topped with another frisbee.  The note handwritten by Sophia made it even sweeter. How cute is that?

They even included information about their church, Shoreline Church, which was also on the frisbees. Although we have already found a church we think we will like, I always think it is wonderful when people extend an invitation to newcomers. It really makes us feel welcome.

Happy Day After the Fourth!

We spent our first 4th of July here doing hard labor all day. We started at 6:00 a.m. and really didn't stop until we heard the fireworks going off last night. We finally have all the new flooring in throughout the house, so now we are painting...the entire interior.

I cleaned the walls, spackled, and taped off windows while Brian painted. Fortunately my sweet mama came and kept Cole occupied so we could get a lot done.


BEFORE:

I don't think I have ever had a white wall in my life, but I decided I wanted a crisp, clean white throughout the house this time. Brian is convinced we will have too much white in the house, and I'm trying to convince him that we will have lots of color elsewhere.

DURING: (My handsome painter getting it done!) The wainscoting will be painted bright white also. I found a chandelier to replace the light - I just need to decide what color it will be.

Now that the house is almost completely painted, it just hit me that I have a three year old  BOY. What in the world was I thinking? I guess I need to quit blogging and google how to remove dirty hand prints from white paint.  :)

A Surprise Sand Sculpture Proposal

Yesterday I got a last minute call from a sweet mom who was in a bind and trying to help out her son. He was planning to propose to his girlfriend on the beach on Okaloosa Island with a sand sculpture, and their photographer backed out on them at the last minute.

I was so happy that she found me and that I was able to go capture this for them. The guy that built the sculpture did an amazing job. His name is Mark Flynn, and you can find him at Sand Odyssey.

To see more images from this session just click on any of the photos below.

A pool? A pond? A mirage?

One of the most wonderful things about our new house is that it has a pool. Uh...I mean a pond. Actually it feels more like a mirage.

All my life I begged my mama for a pool. Isn't that the dream of every child growing up in the deep south?

So finally I have this marvelous, big hole in my backyard. The problem? We have black algae. If you know about that - well - you know my headache. If you don't - well just hope you don't find out. It's nearly impossible to rid your pool of it. We have scrubbed and scrubbed, treated it with algaecide, and shocked it. But we still have some stubborn black algae remaining and popping up. Tomorrow I will spend the day rubbing chlorine tablets all over the sides of the pool before we treat it again.

We closed on the house two weeks ago and we have yet to be able to go for a swim in the pool. I'm starting to feel like it's a mirage. Or maybe we should just turn it into a pond. Surely the fish would love all that algae.

Wish me luck - I'm ready to take a dip. And if you have any experience and tips, please share them!
If not, be sure to bring your fishing pole when you come to visit.  :)

Home, Salty Home

After spending ten days in two hotels and a condo, we are finally in our new house. We don't have our household goods yet (we literally have two mattresses and that is it!) and our house is a disaster zone because we are having all new flooring installed, but we have managed to find a few peaceful moments here and there in the middle of the chaos. One of the great things about living on such a narrow island is that we can walk right across the road to the beach or walk about three minutes to get to the sound. I think Brian and Cole will create lots of great memories fishing in this spot.

I will be posting lots of things on this blog - house photos, beach photo sessions, and more so bookmark it if you like and check back when you have time!